1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector in which electrical safety is enhanced and more particularly to a connector suitable for charging a storage battery in an electric automobile.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
Recently, electric automobiles having a storage battery or batteries have been attracting attention in view of protection of the environment and energy conservation and some of them have been put to practical use. In such an electric automobile, it is necessary to be able to readily interconnect the storage battery and a charger since the storage battery must be charged. Thus, heretofore, a connector has been generally utilized to interconnect them. An example of such a connector will be explained below.
A car side connector connected to a battery is secured to a car body while a charger side connector is connected to an end of a flexible cable drawn out of a charger. The car side connector has a plurality of male terminals exposed in its hood while the charger side connector has a plurality of female terminals disposed in its housing to receive the male terminals. The charger side connector is formed into a shape adapted to be received in the hood of the car side connector. When the charger side connector is inserted into the hood, the terminals are electrically coupled with each other.
However, since the male terminals are exposed in the hood, they may be accidentally touched thus causing electric shock or be contaminated with extraneous substances resulting in electrical failure.
In order to enhance electrical safety, for example, Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure No. 4-124774 (1992) discloses a connector in which a lid is attached through a hinge to the hood of the connector so that the lid can close and release an opening in the hood.
However, since the lid must be opened by one hand to expose the male terminals and a female connector then be inserted into the hood of the connector with another hand, this construction requires a two-handed two step operation, and is therefore inefficient.
Further, in order to overcome such problems, Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 4-209479 (1992) discloses a connector wherein an insulation plate is movably mounted in a hood, the insulation plate is provided with through holes through which male terminals pass, a female connector is coupled to a male connector while pushing the insulation plate, the female connector and the insulation plate are detached from the male connector with the female connector accompanying the insulation plate, the female connector is disengaged from the insulation plate and the insulation plate is maintained in its position when the insulation plate moves to the distal ends of the male terminals.
However, in the above connector, since the insulation plate must guide the male terminals to couple them to the female terminals, the male terminals must pass through the insulation plate and expose their distal ends. Accordingly, this construction can not enhance electrical safety.
In order to enhance electrical safety, the insulation plate must be disengaged from the male terminals and move to a position covering the male terminals. However, even if the insulation plate merely moves over the distal ends of the male terminals, the through holes shift from the male terminals when the insulation plate is detached from the male terminals. Under this condition, when a female connector is inserted into the male connector, the insulation plate abuts on the distal ends of the male terminals, thereby causing the female connector to be hardly inserted into the male connector.
In addition, in the above connector, even if the insulation plate is engaged with the distal ends of the male terminals, the insulation plate is pushed to an inner part of the hood by any external force to expose the male terminals in their entirety.